Deputy who foiled kidnapping: 'We just do what we are supposed to do'

GREENSBURG - In an exclusive interview with WBRZ News 2 Thursday, a deputy recounted the moments of last weekend when he foiled a kidnapping involving a mother and her two-year-old child.

Livingston Parish Sheriff's deputies released details of the incident, which began in Watson and wound through Tangipahoa and St. Helena Parishes before the accused kidnapper was arrested by Livingston deputies later. The woman and her child were rescued just before the Livingston/St. Helena line by a St. Helena Parish Sheriff's deputy.

"She started screaming; she advised that she was carjacked and, basically, kidnapped," Deputy Toler Smith said in an interview that aired first on WBRZ News 2 at 10:00. He described the woman as emotional and said after she became comfortable with deputies, she told them she had been raped.

Authorities said the unidentified woman and her child were taken at gunpoint from the Dollar General in Watson Saturday. They believe Smith drove them into and around St. Helena and Tangipahoa parishes before Deputy Smith noticed the stolen car speeding down the highway.

"It appeared there was more to it than a speeding violation," Smith said as he recounted how the accused kidnapper did not stop when he attempted to pull him over for speeding. Eventually, the car stopped and the driver ran; later he was arrested by Livingston deputies.

"It happened so fast, your adrenaline is pumping, you really got to stay sharp," Smith said about how remained calm and collected and helped the woman and child to freedom.

For Smith, it was all in a day's work.

"We just do what we are supposed to do, just this time it turned out to be something. We make plenty of traffic stops, we make plenty of calls a day and every now and then you do something that impacts somebody's life," Smith said.***************Follow the publisher of this post on Twitter: @treyschmaltz